Rechargeable lithium batteries are attractive for energy storage because of their high specific energy and efficiency, but cannot meet scaled up demands. In particular, the liquid electrolytes commonly used impose serious safety concerns.

Solid electrolytes would improve safety, stability, and cost, but there are several issues to overcome. Block copolymer-based electrolytes offer multi-scale interactions and structure that can benefit the design of batteries. Block copolymers allow rational molecular design and processing to provide desirable ion transport and mechanical stability. The structure of the nanoscale block copolymer domains where ions are located, and their mesoscale topology, are important to this end.

We research phase behavior and structure in multi-component systems containing block copolymers and lithium salts, with a focus on the interplay between block copolymer organization and Li+ location/mobility. This work contributes fundamental information that could inform the design of new/improved electrolytes and batteries for energy applications.

A typical poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymer (Pluronic P105) at room temperature exhibits crystallinity emanating from the PEO block. X-ray diffraction patterns of Pluronic P105 exhibit two strong peaks at 2θ = 19.5 (120) and 23.7 (032) and few weak peaks at 2θ = 15.07 (110), 26.56 (131), and 27.31 (200). These diffraction peaks suggest a helical crystalline structure of PEO (the numbers in parenthesis are Miller indices for a helical model that comprises seven chemical units (two turns in each helix period)). The intensities of observed XRD peaks of Pluronic P105 decrease continuously with increasing amount of LiCl and disappear above 15 wt% of lithium salt. This indicates that the degree of crystallinity decreases upon addition of LiCl. Such decrease and elimination of crystallinity is also borne by FTIR spectra (upon addition of LiCl, peaks at 1240 and 1235 cm-1 become broad with lower intensity, very similar to the FTIR spectra of PEO melt) and Raman spectra (as the concentration of LiCl increases, peaks at 2840 and 2890 cm-1 become weak). Crystalline PEO become amorphous due to complex formation (coordination) between Li+ ions and multiple ether oxygen atoms of PEO chains. The influence of LiCl on the degree of crystallinity depends on Li/EO ratio.

Ongoing work addresses practical issues pertaining to the preparation of the polymer-salt blend (solvent casting following by vacuum drying vs melt mixing), and fundamental issues such as effects of Li+ counterion, availability of PEO for coordination with Li+ (competitive interaction with protonated silica), and effect on PEO crystallinity of addition of PEO-modified polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes.